


it was you

by Kaleid369



Series: i'll be there for you [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Misunderstandings, No Spoilers, POV Hinata Shouyou, Pre-Relationship, Romantic Soulmates, Sort Of, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Valentine's Day Exchange, Volleyball, Writing on Skin, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaleid369/pseuds/Kaleid369
Summary: Karasuno, he thinks, will change everything.Hinata's first days at Karasuno aren't as he expected.Or: Hinata and Kageyama are soulmates and it takes a few misunderstandings and a volleyball match for them to figure it out.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Series: i'll be there for you [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680961
Comments: 9
Kudos: 216
Collections: Haikyuu Valentines





	it was you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hispnaicin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hispnaicin/gifts).



> happy (belated) valentine's day, rocio! i am so sorry for the wait. ;-; took a while you figure out how to format everything and get it together. plus, quarantine schoolwork is...ugh. there'll be more parts to this in the series. i hope you enjoy your gift(s)!

* * *

The bike ride down the mountain is exhilarating. Hinata’s legs burn from the pedaling, but the view and spring breeze makes up for it. It’s his first day of high school—at Karasuno, to be exact—and he’s been anticipating it for the past week. He’ll never forget the Little Giant he saw on television, and he won’t ever forget his first volleyball tournament—his first tournament loss. More importantly, today is the day Hinata will meet his soulmate. His _soulmate_! The one he’s been communicating with over ink scrawled on their skin for years. 

Karasuno, he thinks, will change everything. 

With that thought, a wide grin spreads across his face. In a sudden spurt of energy, Hinata speeds up with thoughts of what might await him.

The first thing Hinata does is fill out and submit his club application form to the volleyball club adviser. The rest of the day has him buzzing in his seat. The classes are boring—not like he expected anything else—and they seem to drag on for literal days. Hinata swears that it’s torture. _Mind-numbing torture_. He sits through his classes half-listening, half-daydreaming, and one hundred percent thinking about volleyball. What will his teammates be like? Will he be part of the starting line-up? Who will he meet? 

God, what will his _soulmate_ look like? What’s his name? Will his soulmate _like_ him? Like, _like-like_ him? What if he doesn’t? He said he’s a setter—maybe they’ll make a good pair? 

It goes like this for the rest of the day. His teachers even call him out several times. It goes and goes until the bell rings and Hinata is out the door in a second flat. His energy pours into a mad dash down the hall. His bag thumps against his back as he swerves through other students and club recruiters. He ducks under a basketball club member’s arm when he tries to recruit him and continues on his way. 

Hinata can’t stop the growing grin on his face. He’s _here_. At Karasuno! He’s finally here! Here, he can play volleyball. He can learn and practice all he wants. He’s going to meet his soulmate. He’ll defeat The King of the Court— _Kageyama Tobio._

Hinata will _fly_.

Once he’s outside, Hinata slows down enough to grab a pen and uncap it. _Are you here?_ he scrawls on the palm of his hand. _Gymnasium 2!_ He shoves the pen back into his bag and sprints, just in case he’s late. What if his soulmate is waiting for him already?

Gymnasium two looms in front of him. It’s kind of intimidating, but anticipation and ecstasy stamp down the nervousness. A person stands outside the doors, dribbling a volleyball on the pathway. Hinata slows, heartbeat racing, and walks up to him.

The person in front of him doesn’t turn around, so he clears his throat.

“Um—”

Kageyama Tobio turns around, and Hinata’s heart stops in his chest.

“What are _you_ doing here?!”

  
  
  


Kageyama is scary. He’s intimidating and tall and he’s at Karasuno. It’s frustrating. It makes Hinata want to scream when the upperclassmen ignore him in favor of Kageyama. They make fun of his height, but they tell him he has guts and an impressive jump. He can’t help but blurt out, “I’m going to be Karasuno’s Ace!” 

And then Kageyama ruins it. 

Kageyama reminds him of the tournament, of the devastating loss. Hinata had tried his best. He had _tried_ and given it his _all_. For Kageyama to insult his effort, his _goal_ , so callously? Hinata resists the urge to just leap at him. Instead:

“I challenge you!”

For a moment, Hinata completely forgets about his soulmate.

  
  
  


It goes like this:

The vice principal gets hit in the face, his toupee flies off, and Hinata and Kageyama get kicked out of the gym by their volleyball captain, who tells them they can’t participate in club activities until they get along. Kageyama is scary, but their captain can be terrifying. One glare from him gets Kageyama to spill what he really thinks of Hinata, which is entirely _rude_.

But no matter how stuck-up Kageyama is, and no matter how much Hinata would rather not play _with_ him, that’s what it’ll take for him to play volleyball. To _really_ play and learn and practice with a team and potential friends instead of alone in the corner of gyms and hallways. He can’t—won’t—be stopped before he even gets the chance, not because of an overconfident jerk and not because they think he can’t cooperate with teammates. Both of them challenge their captain in a show to seem team-like, and he agrees on a three-versus-three match. Kageyama spends the rest of the time drilling receives into Hinata until he doesn’t fall over or receive the ball into his own face. It’s dark out by the time the upperclassmen leave the gymnasium. Tanaka- _san_ winks at them unsubtly, and the two get the hint: _5AM._

After club activities end, Hinata doesn’t see anyone except Kageyama and the upperclassmen. He doesn’t see the one he was supposed to meet. He doesn’t see his soulmate, and he doesn’t see anyone waiting for him either.

He glances down at the smudged ink on the palm of his hand. Did he even come? Did he miss him? What if he forgot?

By the time Hinata arrives home, the words on his hand are completely unreadable. His little sister and mother welcome him home with smiles and dinner. His sister talks to him excitedly about her day and begs him to play volleyball with her.

 _Where were you?_ he asks later that night. _I didn’t see you._

Hinata tries his best not to sound accusing, but he’s _hurt_. He’d been so excited to meet him—to talk and be friends and whatever else came next—and they’d agreed to meet, hadn’t they? So why wasn’t he there? Hadn’t he wanted to play volleyball, too? To join the team? 

Hinata hadn’t seen him anywhere, though.

His soulmate answers a few minutes later. _What do you mean? I was there. You weren’t._

Hinata stares blankly at his arm. What the hell?

 _I was_ , he writes hastily. _Where were you?_

_Where were you?_

Hinata drops the pen on his desk and lets his arm hang by his side. 

Maybe… Maybe his soulmate hadn’t really wanted to meet him. 

Sluggishly, Hinata trudges around his room for a change of clothes and heads to the bathroom to shower. He’s covered in dirt and sweat from practicing with Kageyama and playing with his sister. He turns the water hot and steps into the shower. For a long time, he just stands there and lets the water pour over him and burn streams over his skin. He scrubs at the ink on his arm until it’s gone, and he scrubs until his skin is an irritated red. He stays in the shower and cries until his mother knocks on the door and asks if he’s alright.

For the next few days, he practices with Kageyama, Tanaka- _san_ , and Sugawara _san_. It’s tiring having to wake up hours earlier than usual and biking down the mountain in the dark. It’s even harder staying awake through classes before practicing more during lunch hour and after school. Dealing with Kageyama is a pain, but he deals with it. He throws back just as many insults when he’s not out of breath and he keeps the ball in the air for as long as his legs will let him. It’s rinse and repeat from five in the morning until there isn’t any light for them to see. 

He tries not to think about his soulmate or how he essentially left him on read and didn’t respond. He doesn’t know how to respond. Does he even want to? His soulmate ditched him and then lied straight to his face. Why would he want a soulmate like that?

The same thoughts repeat in his head over the course of the week. The more he thinks about it, the more hurt he feels. Sometimes it circulates to anger. Most of the time… Most of the time, he’s disappointed and upset. It’s hard not to cry.

His soulmate still hasn’t written to him. Hinata doesn’t try.

And then Saturday arrives.

  
  
  


_Will you meet me at the gymnasium today?_ Hinata writes in marker, and he doesn’t check for a response.

  
  
  


Hinata is of the completely valid and correct opinion that Tsukishima Kei is an _ass_. He might be the same level Kageyama is, or _worse_. There’s something infuriating about his wording and tone. He purposely speaks in a way to piss people off. Hinata would honestly be surprised if no one has tried to punch him yet.

Hinata can’t wait to beat him on the court. 

The beginning of the game is...bad. Tsukishima continuously throws taunts over the other side of the net. Every time Hinata spikes, Tsukishima is there to block him from scoring a point. It’s like another wall is looming over him, another impossible obstacle he can’t get past because he isn’t good enough. 

Then Hinata learns why Kageyama earned his nickname, and why he hates it so much. It’s a reminder and wound that Tsukishima keeps rubbing salt in with carefully picked words meant to rile Kageyama up. Kageyama is afraid, as unbelievable as it sounds to Hinata, that no one will be there to spike the ball he sets. But…

“I’ll go after it every time,” Hinata tells him, clear and honest. “So that doesn’t matter anymore. We’ll beat Tsukishima and _really_ join the team! You’re gonna be the official setter and put the ball up for me!”

Everyone looks at him in various degrees of incredulity, amusement, and, from Tsukishima, disgust.

Hinata stares back unflinchingly. “Right now, that’s all that matters.”

The game picks up again after that, and this time, Hinata calls, _demands_ , “Kageyama, _I’m here!_ ” He jumps as high as he can, arm poised and ready to strike, and swings.

He almost messes up. God, he almost messes up, but he _touches_ the ball. It goes over the net and hits the floor.

_He did it._

“I’ll hit any set you give me,” Hinata says. “Got it? Any set!”

For a short, hopeful second, Hinata thinks Kageyama might agree, might set for him _for real_ , but a sour expression overtakes his face. He ducks his head and goes silent, and tells him to shut up when he calls him out on it. It kind of reminds him of a wounded animal. But, like, a lot scarier. 

“Hard work isn’t enough,” Tsukishima sneers condescendingly. “Some people just aren’t cut out for some things.”

Hinata straightens up, hand clutched to his chest and gaze downcast. “... Being short is a _disadvantage_. I might not be ‘cut out’ for this, but I don’t care. That doesn’t matter to me. This is the only body I’ve got…” He looks up to meet Tsukishima head-on. “I want to stay on the court for as long as I can.”

It’s silent for a moment, and then the unexpected happens. Kageyama steps up to stand beside him. “Breaking down the wall so the spikers can get through…” Kageyama says, loud and clear, “... That’s what the setter is for.”

After that, it’s a frenzy. Kageyama sends quick sets to Hinata, but Hinata messes them up every time. He can’t reach the ball fast enough, or he swings too late or too early. He jumps too forward or too low. He can’t spike the ball properly. The timing is all wrong, and he can feel the frustration radiating from Kageyama. He’s tired and frustrated with himself, too.

When the ball rolls over to Sugawara- _san_ , Hinata...doesn’t really understand what he tells Kageyama or what might be going on in Kageyama’s mind. Hinata isn’t a setter. He really doesn’t know much volleyball terminology, strategy, or technique that Kageyama definitely knows. Kageyama squints at him for an uncomfortably long time after Sugawara- _san_ finishes speaking. For a moment, Hinata thinks Kageyama will hurl another insult or tactless comment at him, but he doesn’t. For the first time, Kageyama says something encouraging.

He tells him, “Jump as high as you can...and _fly_. Don’t worry about the ball. I’ll bring it to you.”

For the first time since Hinata’s met him, he’s pleasantly surprised. The words resonate with him.

 _Fly_ , Kageyama said, as if he meant it. As if, without a doubt, he _believed_ Hinata could.

For the first time, Hinata’s heart stutters for someone who isn’t his soulmate.

  
  
  


Hinata and Kageyama win.

They _win_. 

Hinata is exhausted and sweaty and aching, but it doesn’t matter because they won. They really won. This is his first win. _His first!_ Kageyama, he knows, must have gotten a lot of wins, but he still seems just as excited about it. He seems like he loves volleyball as much as Hinata loves volleyball. It’s the first time he’s ever seen Kageyama without a scowl or frown or something equally as scary on his face.

After they get their team jackets—which, for the record, is probably one of the coolest things Hinata has _ever_ gotten—and Takeda- _sensei_ informs them of the practice game against Aoba Johsai—his first _real_ game since entering Karasuno!—the six of them who played change out of their shirts. It’s uncomfortable and the fabric sticks to his skin because of the sweat. He’d really rather not go home like that.

While he’s changing, Tanaka- _san_ calls out to him. “Yo, Hinata, what’s that on your arm?”

Hinata blinks at him and then glances down to where Tanaka- _san_ is pointing. “Oh. I...was writing to my soulmate.” 

_Will you meet me at the gymnasium today?_ It’s still scrawled on his left upper arm. The marker hasn’t faded, thankfully, from how much he’s been sweating. He wrote it there so he wouldn’t have to look at it and get distracted. To be disappointed again in case he didn’t show up.

“‘Will you meet me at the gymnasium today?’ Huh, your soulmate goes to Karasuno? Lucky!”

Kageyama’s head snaps up. “ _What did you just say_?”

“Wh—? I was just reading the message Hinata wrote to his soulmate.”

His eyes jerk to Hinata. “ _You_? It’s _you_?”

“Uh,” Hinata says eloquently. “What do you mean?”

Kageyama steps towards him. Hinata backs up into the wall in fear of his unprovoked rage. He glares down at him and yanks his left sleeve up to his shoulder.

In clear red ink, _Will you meet me at the gymnasium today?_ is written on Kageyama’s arm. The same exact words that are on Hinata’s in his exact handwriting.

_It’s him._

“We’re soulmates?”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written kagehina before, tbh, and i haven't written/posted hq!! fics in years. this event was my attempt to get back into writing it, and it might have worked? (don't misunderstand me: i love hq!! i keep up with the manga and i literally cry every time i see our boys. and the animation? god, my tears...) 
> 
> also, don't get me wrong. i love tsukki. like, so much. his character development is beautiful. i'd marry his character development. but in the beginning? ohmygoddd i would have wanted to punch him and i think hinata has the urge to, too, but not the stupidity to do so lmao
> 
> anyway, i hope it was okay?? it might be a bit out of character or seem rushed?? sorry... o7


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